


I'm not jealous

by T97Carolina



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: F/F, Kadena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 09:47:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14422785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/T97Carolina/pseuds/T97Carolina
Summary: Kat doesn't realize that what she's feeling is jealousy.





	I'm not jealous

**Author's Note:**

> Saw a prompt and this is my 2nd attempt at it.

"Next Thursday, right?" Kat confirms the date with Alex, as she types up her e-mail. 

Scarlet would be featuring an article on Adena el Amin, a photographer whose latest photo series, The Woman Behind the Veil, focused on challenging the preconceptions one might have of women who cover.

As with all projects, Kat did her research, so diligently that she soon found herself sucked into a lesbian Muslim rabbit hole. And the more she read about Adena, the more intrigued she was.

It had taken quite a bit of effort to get her to agree to article. Adena’s primary concern about Scarlet not being a feminist magazine. But Kat wouldn’t let Scarlet give up easily. They appealed to her, highlighting what Jacqueline referred to as stealth feminism, urging Adena to reconsider. 

When Adena agreed to the interview, Kat was ecstatic. 

She looked forward to meeting the artist she had spent so much time researching.

 

Regal. That’s the first word that comes to Kat's mind when she meets Adena. 

She walks into the building confidently, her violet duster seeming to fly behind her, the gold of her jewelry reflecting back light. And her face, serious in its neutral state, shifts to a radiant smile when she greets Alex.

It's disarming. 

Kat stands to the side, coordinating with Scarlet's photographers for the shots she wants while Alex conducts the interview. She waits patiently for the interview to conclude, listening to the soft cadence of Adena's voice as she relates to Alex how her time in South Africa ignited her love of portrait photography. She should be using this time to find Adena's social media profiles to follow from Scarlet's account, but she can't tear her eyes away from her. 

It's not until Adena rises that Kat remembers she’s working, not just there to listen to the interview. She stands up, offering her hand in greeting.

"Hi, I’m Kat Edison, social media director."

"Adena el Amin." 

She feels a slight thrill when Adena takes her hand. 

"So I thought we'd take a few photos here against this backdrop and if you're up for it, I thought it'd be a good connection to your work if we got at least one shot of you holding up your own descriptor." 

Kat points to the blank poster board and sharpie laid out for Adena.

"I think that's a great idea."

Kat smiles openly, pleased with herself.

 

The poise with which Adena carried herself into this interview translates to the photo session. 

"These all look great." Kat pauses on the photo of Adena holding her card. "Provocateur. I like it." Kat narrows her eyes, assessing Adena, "Seems accurate."

"I like to think so," Adena agrees; her voice soft and low, eyes meeting Kat's. 

It takes her a second to find her voice again. 

"So when we start posting social media links and pics I'll tag you. And if there are any issues or we need to get a hold of you, I'll email your manager and you."

"Actually, would you mind texting me? Firuze is on an extended leave and I'm not very good at checking my email. And I'm only slightly better with my phone, but it's better."

 

Kat only has to text her twice over minor things before the article goes out. 

When she posts a link to the article on Twitter, she sings Adena's praises and Adena responds in the expected appreciative manner.

Typically this would be the end of their engagement, unless a follow up article was scheduled. But over the next few days, Kat finds herself checking Adena's social media accounts periodically. She's not sure what she's looking for, or if she's looking for anything at all. 

Adena’s social media is predominantly work centric, but there are the occasional personal posts, showing Adena the person, not just the artist. 

She waits until the end of the week before she follows Adena from her own personal accounts.

 

At first Kat simply likes her work related posts - musings on her art, photos of the locations she's shooting at. 

Kat is surprisingly pleased when she sees the notification that Adena el Amin is following her back.

Each like exchanged grows Kat's comfort until she's leaving comments on Adena's pictures - "can't wait to see the final product" 

Adena leaving her own comments, until they've grown a type of friendship.

 

  
Adena rarely posts photos of herself so it catches Kat's attention when she sees her face while scrolling through Instagram.  
It's a selfie of her in what Kat assumes must be her studio, the lighting low. Her caption reads: Exhausted, but I’m done with this series which will be on display . . .

"What is it?" Jane's question interrupts her.

"Oh, it's Adena. She has a show coming up. Here in New York."

"Oh, that's great! She's been out of the country for a bit, right?"

"Mmhmm," Kat answers, looking back to the photo.  
"I'm not sure if we're at the point in our friendship where I can tell her she looks like a babe even exhausted." Kat hands Jane her phone. 

"I do not look that good tired," Jane agrees.

"God, she's beautiful."

"I know," Kat murmurs, taking her phone back. Her fingers hover over her keyboard debating on what to say.

She focuses on her work, expressing happiness and tacking on a heart emoji.

 

She's just about to fall asleep when her phone lights up with a notification. 

Adena responded to her comment.

"you should come :)"

 

Kat feels a nervous excitement when she enters the gallery. This will be the first time she sees Adena since Scarlet ran the article on her work. She follows Jane's lead to the bar, ordering a gin and tonic to ease her nerves.

They haven't covered much ground when a group of men approaches them. They're all handsome and articulate, conversation flowing easily until Kat notices Adena out of the corner of her eye. 

Adena was talking to someone, her hands punctuating the words Kat could not hear. And then Adena catches her eye and she smiles in greeting. 

"Uh, Kat?" the guy she had just been speaking to calls to her, bringing her attention back to him. He glances back, looking for the source of her distraction.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she glances back to Adena who is now alone. "I just noticed my friend, I'm gonna - " Kat lightly squeezes his arm as she walks away, sentence incomplete.

"Adena!"

"Kat," Adena hugs her, "You came."

"Of course! This is amazing." Kat feels her face warm, she's not sure if it's the drink or Adena.

"Thank you, I'm so happy for today. The culmination of all my work."

"Yeah, I saw that you'd been traveling a lot lately."

"Yes, visiting family, shooting on location. Very busy. But I'm back, and I think I'll be still. At least for a little while. How is Scarlet?"

"Good. We almost have 2 million followers on Twitter." 

"Wow, that's impressive."

Kat shimmies her shoulder coyly, her eyes twinkling. "Thanks."

"Your date misses you," Adena tilts her head towards the guy who's watching her. 

"We just met tonight. Actually, he interrupted my walkthrough,” Kat loops her hand through the crook of Adena's arm, “show me around?”

 

Adena takes Kat through the entire gallery, pausing at her favorite pieces and answering all of Kat's questions. Even when other guests approach Adena, she stays by Kat's side. 

Kat feels special, honored, that Adena would devote her time to showing Kat around. 

When they leave each other at the end of the night, it's with promises that they'll hang out again soon. 

 

Kat's twitter storming when Sutton leans up against her desk, "Hey, brunch tomorrow?" 

"Can't. I already have brunch plans with Adena."

"Didn't you already see her this week?"

"Yeah," Kat answers unconcernedly, not looking up from her screen.

She misses Sutton's eyes narrowing in thought before she walks away.

 

Maybe they do text a lot. But Kat really likes talking to Adena. About anything really. Work, tv, the mundane - like the guy on the train chopping onions earlier today. So, Kat kind of understands the frustration in Jane's voice when she complains that Kat isn't paying attention. 

"I'm sorry, I was just giving Adena my opinion on some photos. I'll put my phone away!" She tucks her phone under her leg, showing her empty hands to Jane.

"Okay, but I’m not rewinding." Jane unpauses the show they had been watching. 

Kat can feel her phone vibrating with Adena's responses. 

She's only able to wait fifteen minutes before she's sneaking her phone back out.

 

_I'm feeling uninspired_  
_Distract me_

Kat has learned that although Adena herself is not a big user of technology or current social trends, she still appreciates others' usage of such. She's also learned that Adena is a huge animal person, especially cats.

 ** _Here have a meme_**  
Kat sends her a kitten pic that says "some days are hard"

_:)_  
_How can I stay upset looking at that?_

**_Mission accomplished_ **

She feels a sense of satisfaction in making Adena smile.

_How was your date with Trevor?_

**_Ugh. It was so good until he made fun of the violinist._ **  
**_Do you remember him?_ **

_Of course, I loved him!_

**_I know right._ **  
**_Totally ruined the mood_ **  
**_Now I’m with Jane and Sutton_ **  
**_They also want the details about the date_ **  
**_Gotta go :P_ **

_Good night, Kat :)_

**_Night!_ **

 

Isabel. That's the name of the woman Adena is currently dating. She's beautiful and it's clear she's completely head over heels for Adena. Kat actually finds it a little off putting how little she cares to talk to anyone else, to get to know Kat. 

She's starting to regret telling Adena that she could invite her to celebrate Sutton's promotion to the fashion department.

When Isabel leans in to kiss Adena, Kat decides it's time to get another drink. 

 

She's talking to Jane when this guy approaches her. Cute, but not Jane's type at all. Kat slips away, taking a seat next to Adena, giggling as she watches this poor guy attempt to hit on Jane. He oozes arrogance and his face contorts in confusion as, she assumes, he tries to process the rejection.

Kat places her arm on Adena's calling her attention to the scene before them. She needs someone to share in her laughter. But when she turns to look at her, she feels like she's interrupting. 

The way Isabel glances to Kat's hand and then back at her face has Kat suddenly feeling out of place. 

 

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Kat tosses her phone aside

"Oh yeah, I totally believe that."

"I'm just annoyed. I texted Adena last night to remind her about our plans tonight and she just responded. Apparently she forgot and she made plans with Isabel. And it's stupid. I'm just annoyed."

"Kat,” Sutton sighs, taking a seat next to Kat on the sofa, “You're jealous."

"What? I'm not jealous."

"You're so jealous," Jane jumps in.  
Kat lays her head back, "I mean, I guess, maybe. It's just that ever since Isabel came around, I feel like Adena's been too busy for me, and I, I miss my friend."

Jane shares a look with Sutton before continuing. "Are you sure it's just friendship jealousy?"

Kat sits up to look at them better, trying to understand the insinuation.

"I don't know, Kat," Sutton shrugs, "it just seems like there might be more there."

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe-"  
Jane is interrupted by Kat's lurch forward to check her buzzing phone.

Disappointment settles in Kat’s stomach when she sees that it's just Alex. She drops her phone, frustration building up again. 

 

She's been thinking a lot about what Jane and Sutton said. If she was jealous on a level more than friendship. Every time she thinks about it, she just seems to go in circles. She likes Adena, yes. She's great to talk to, she loves hanging out with her, and yes, she is gorgeous. But isn't that the factor that differentiates friendship from romance? Physical attraction. She objectively knows that Adena is beautiful, but she hasn't thought about her romantically. Has she?

"How aren't you cold?" Adena drapes a blanket over her legs and then places her hand atop Kat's forearm, "See how cold I am?"

"You always run cold," Kat takes Adena's hand between hers, trying to warm her. So maybe she is very physical with Adena, and maybe she does notice a slight flutter when they touch. Has she always?

Kat lets go of Adena's hand, trying to focus on the television instead of her thoughts.

Kat's in the middle of freaking out about the cliffhanger when she hears Adena's phone chime. It's Isabel texting her, and Kat impulsively rolls her eyes, irritated. She has no reason to dislike her, Kat knows this, but she does.

Adena bites her lip as she reads the messages, and Kat takes the opportunity to really look at her. She wonders how it would feel to kiss Adena's lips, if it would elicit an even stronger fluttering feeling in her. Her eyes follow the curve of her face until she's looking at Adena's eyes, still gazing down at her phone debating on whether or not to respond. 

Adena's eyes meet hers, and she feels it. Her stomach swoops and she realizes that she had been a completely oblivious fool. That her desire to constantly talk to Adena or see Adena is nothing like what she has felt for her other friends. She hates Isabel because she's jealous of her. 

And Kat doesn't know what to do with this revelation.

"What?" Adena smiles at her.

"Um," Kat clears her throat, "aren't you going to respond to her?"

"I'm going to call her later. I - I think I'm going to end things. She's great, but it doesn't feel right."

"Oh," is all Kat is capable of responding.

 

“Kat, what's going on?”

“What?”

“You've been acting odd.”

Kat shakes her head dismissively “I -”

Adena interrupts her, seeing that she's ready to lie. "I know you. Talk to me."

 

Kat waits until they've paid the bill and are walking. Her heart is pounding and she feels short of breath as she tries to figure out how to say this. 

"I-uh - I don't know how I didn't see it before. But I realized that, I,” she sighs, “I really like you Adena. And I don't want to ruin our friendship, but I can't stop thinking about - how much I like you. And I don't even know if you lik-"

Kat stops when Adena lets out an audible breath. Was that it? Had she ruined their friendship?

Adena lifts her eyes from the ground, a soft smile at her lips. 

“Kat,” she furrows her brow, “of course I like you.”

"Yeah?" she responds in hopeful shock.

Adena nods slightly, her hand caressing Kat's cheek. And when their lips brush against each other's, Kat feels the flutter, growing with the intensity of their kiss, consuming her. 

“Fuck.”

“What is it,” Adena asks, concerned. 

“I’m going to have to tell Jane and Sutton they were right. But, uh, can we, can we do that some more?” Kat leans back in for another kiss.

Definitely better than she had imagined.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like it let me know :)  
> Comments really make my day
> 
> I wrote this a while ago so I don't know how I feel about it anymore. But i figured I'd post it since the promo has me feeling alive and inspired.


End file.
